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VA - Doris Lentz, 31, Arlington, 23 April 1996

Age at Time of Disappearance: 31 years old
Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 5'5"; 155 lbs.
Distinguishing Characteristics: White female. Dark blonde hair; green eyes.

Circumstances of Disappearance
Lentz was last seen in Arlington, Virginia around 19:00, after telling a friend that she was going to Fort Washington, Maryland to pick up her daughter on April 23, 1996.
A week later, police in Southeast Washington D.C. found her blood-spattered Toyota. The door was unlocked and her purse was in full view.
Her ex-husband was arrested in connection with Doris' disappearance in May 2001 in Indiana. In August 2001, He was charged with her kidnapping and causing her death. He maintains his innocence in the case. He was convicted of the charge in June 2003 and sentenced to life in prison without parole.
The trial judge took the unusual step of throwing out the jury's verdict; he acquitted the ex-husband in July 2003. However, in September 2004, a court of appeals ordered a new trial for the ex-husband, saying that the trial judge was wrong to overturn the verdict. He was convicted again of the same charges in March 2006.

Investigators
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:

Doris still missing

Doris has been missing for 18 years. She had already been missing for 5 years when her ex-husband (a former naval intelligence officer) was arrested for her kidnapping. She could be anywhere. The case was very complicated and involved several appeals; see the links above.

The case of U.S. v. Jay Lentz has indeed coursed through the legal system since he was arrested in 2001. The government said Lentz had lured Doris Lentz from her Arlington County home in April 1996 to his house in Fort Washington. He used the pretense of picking up their daughter, Julia, then 4, who actually was in Indiana visiting his parents. Then, prosecutors said, Jay Lentz killed Doris Lentz and disposed of the body. He later joined Julia in Indiana.

A federal jury in July 2003 convicted Lentz of kidnapping resulting in Doris Lentz's death but declined to sentence him to death. That verdict was thrown out by U.S. District Judge Gerald Bruce Lee, who said prosecutors had failed to prove that a kidnapping had taken place as defined by federal law.

Three jurors then came forward and said they had viewed evidence they weren't supposed to see -- two of Doris Lentz's day planners, which had mysteriously shown up in the jury room. Lee had ruled much of the material in them inadmissible. The planners contained material that included Doris Lentz's notes about threatening phone calls Jay Lentz allegedly had made to her.

The case then took an even more extraordinary turn: Lee accused Mellin, at the time the lead prosecutor, of deliberately planting the day planners in the jury room. The battle reached the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit in Richmond, which in September 2004 threw out Lee's finding about Mellin, saying the judge made "a rather broad leap" without evidence.

The appeals court reinstated Lentz's conviction but ordered a new trial because jurors had seen the disputed materials. The court took the unusual step of removing Lee from the case, and Mellin was not on the prosecution team for the retrial.

The retrial included yet another twist: Prosecutors presented a taped jailhouse phone conversation between Lentz and Salvato in which Lentz said a "hit guy" was on his way to the jail because he needed witnesses to disappear. Salvato immediately warned Lentz that such a statement would destroy him at his retrial.

When he was convicted a second time, Lentz erupted in court: "No, no! Reconsider!" he screamed at the jury.